


Infidelity

by TruebornAlpha



Series: Infidelity [1]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Autumn, Halloween, Idiots in Love, Infidelity, Learning to move on, M/M, Sciles, Single Dad Scott, Teen Wolf AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-10-16
Updated: 2014-10-16
Packaged: 2018-02-21 10:55:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,870
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2465687
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TruebornAlpha/pseuds/TruebornAlpha
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Single Dad!Scott falling hard for his neighbor Stiles. Stiles who doesn’t yell when his twin boys decide their yard isn’t big enough and go traversing through his yard. Stiles who helps calm the twins down when Scott has his first bad asthma attack in years. Stiles who takes the twins trick-or-treating because Scott can’t get off work no matter how hard he begs. Stiles who explains to the twins about how Scott may love someone new but would never replace their Mother, even if she is in heaven. The Stiles who’s kisses make him feel like he’s a teenager falling in love for first time. The same Stiles who’s married and expecting his first child. <a href="http://imaginesciles.tumblr.com/post/99410317196/single-dad-scott-falling-hard-for-his-neighbor">Prompt from ImagineSciles</a></p>
            </blockquote>





	Infidelity

**Author's Note:**

> This prompt has been haunting me so I had to write something. Part 1 of 3.

“Parker, stop bothering your brother. Boys! I need you to actually help carry some of this stuff.” Scott juggled the box in his arms, pinning his phone to his shoulder so he didn’t have to set it down. Twin boys screeched to a halt, fighting over who’d take the box from their father. Sam won out and his brother raced after him, trying to steal the box before they made it up the stairs to their room.

“Are you sure you don’t need help, honey?”

“We’re going to be fine, Mom.” Scott rescued the phone from the crook of his neck. “The movers will help get everything inside and get all the furniture where it’s supposed to be. The boys and I can manage the rest.”

“I still don’t like the thought of you so far away.” He could hear the worry in his mother’s voice and did his best to reassure her.

“It’s the best thing for all of us right now. It’s lucky I got this job and we needed a new place to start over. There were too many memories back home.”

Melissa was silent for a moment, letting the ghosts fill the unspoken spaces. “I’m going to come visit next weekend no matter what. I’m sure you’ll need help getting everything situated, I’m not letting you live out of boxes for the next six months.”

“Alright mom.” He chuckled, watching his sons tumble out of their new house and almost faceplant in the azaleas. “We’ll see you then. I’ve got to go, fatherhood needs me.”

“Scott?”

“Yeah, mom?”

“Are you okay?”

It was a loaded question, one he knew he couldn’t answer honestly. “I’m fine. I love you, call you tomorrow.” He ended the call and slipped the phone into his pocket. “Sam, I saw that!”

It was almost a year since Allison had died and Scott knew he was supposed to be moving on, but it was hard when every part of his life was lived in the shadow of what they used to have. Memories haunted their home and Scott could get lost in thoughts of better times before the drunk driver had ended everything they’d built together in one sudden, senseless night. It took months before he was able to accept that she was gone or that he never had a chance to say goodbye. It had just been such an ordinary day, there hadn’t been anything special, no warning that it was going to be their last.

Beacon Hills had closed around him after that and Scott knew that if he was ever going to find a way through his grief, he needed to find someplace to make new memories away from the past. The boys had been excited for the change, bravely happy as they packed up their life and moved down the coast. He was so proud of them for being able to smile again

“Hey Dad, can we have pizza tonight? Please please please?” Scott looked down into two deceptively earnest pairs of brown eyes and sighed, knowing he was defeated before he even started.

“There’s a good pizza place over on Main and they deliver too.” A voice broke in from over the low hedge. “I can get you their number if you like.”

Scott sized up his new neighbor with a smile. The man looked about his age, late twenties or early thirties, with an overly wide smile that looked like trouble. His hair was artfully messy in the way that screamed hours of effort to make it look like no effort at all. He had a sort of restlessness that made Scott grin, like there were too many thoughts in his head or the prospect of new neighbors really was all that exciting. His eyes seemed to shift from warm milk chocolate to an amber honey and crap, it was always a bad sign when Scott started using food metaphors in his running mental descriptions of things. The man was good looking, but he couldn’t admit that without a pang of guilt.

“If you wouldn’t mind, that would be a big help. I’m Scott McCall, these are my boys Sam and Parker.”

As if on cue, the twins tumbled across the lawn. “I’m hungry!”

“Hi hungry, I’m Stiles.”

The boys stared at the stranger in slack-jawed disbelief while Scott lost it, doubling over with a choked snort.

“Daaaad! His jokes are just as bad as yours!”

“Sam, be nice.” Scott scolded as Stiles chuckled at his own smooth moves. “Apologize and you both go see if you can find the box with the plates.”

“I’m sorry you tell jokes like my dad.” Sam said solemnly before the pair raced back into the house. Stiles howled.

“I’m so sorry, I don’t have any excuse for them. It’s like they’ve been raised by wolves sometimes. You have any?”

“Nah, not yet.” Stiles wiped a tear from his eye. “Though if you’re a connoisseur of clearly  _awesome_  humor, something tells me we’re going to get along just fine, Scotty. Lemme get you that number.” He fished his phone out of his pocket and scrolled through the contact list. “Your wife joining you?” Stiles nodded at the ring on Scott’s finger who fidgeted awkwardly, twisting the gold band.

“Uh…no. She passed away a few months ago. Drunk driver.”

“Oh.” Stiles was immediately contrite, something genuine and sympathetic replacing his joker’s grin. “I’m so sorry.”

Scott shrugged, swallowing nervously and forced himself to smile. He could talk about this, it was part of healing and moving on. “It’s okay. We’re here to have a clean slate. New house, new job, everything.”

“Sounds like a good idea. Sometimes you need a fresh start. Here’s the number for the pizza place. Scott, if you need some help getting acclimated to the neighborhood or anything, seriously anything, hit me up. I know all the best shit.”

Scott laughed, shaking Stiles’s hand with a firm grip and decidedly not letting himself develop a crush on his neighbor. “I’ll take you up on that.”

“Good! Drop by anytime, dude. Good luck, welcome to the neighborhood.”

The pizza place was just as good as Stiles said, though it was hard to mess up a spicy Hawaiian. They ate cross-legged on a tarp spread across the living room floor amid the boxes like an indoor picnic. He put the boys to bed in their new rooms and flopped exhaustedly down. Same bed, same sheets, but the walls held unfamiliar shadows and the noises of the house settling were new. It was exactly what he wanted, though sleep was slow in coming. His thoughts wandered to the man next door and Scott smiled despite himself. Anyone who appreciated Dad humor had already won a special place in his heart, the fact he was kind of unbearably hot in a dorkey flailing elbows sort of way didn’t help.

There was a moment’s guilt that he could feel any kind of attraction to someone who wasn’t Allison. He’d promised her forever, he felt like a traitor to even notice anyone else. This wasn’t the way their story was supposed to end. He missed her with a sharp ache, like his chest was full of broken glass. It was lonely and frustrating, Allison’s memory too sacred to keep him company at night and the thought of someone else was a betrayal.

Stiles. What kind of name was that? He was an odd guy, but there was something about him that had kept Scott smiling hours later. He scolded himself, someone like that wasn’t going to be interested in a broken hearted single dad with too much baggage, but maybe a new friend was just what he needed. He huffed and rolled over, even his subconscious was starting to sound like his mother.

___

“Scott? Yo, Scotty!” The screen door shook with impatient banging.

Scott sat back on his heels, wiping his forehead and leaving a smear of paint that set his boys giggling. “Keep going, guys. Be really careful, try to keep the paint from going over the tape.”

“Okay, Dad.” They chimed in unison as he rocked to his feet and headed to the front door.

“Stiles?”

“Hey, man! I brought you a jello, everybody likes a jello.” His neighbor held up a dish with a lopsided mold and jiggled it proudly before letting himself in the house.”

“ _A_  jello?”

“Yup! It’s kinda one of the only things I can make. I was going to do cookies, but I got a little too ambitious.” Stiles didn’t mention the trays and trays of burned and flattened cookies he spent all night trying to bake. He often had trouble sleeping and thoughts would rattle restlessly in his head all night, giving him twitchy fingers and scattered obsessions. Medication helped bring some balance when he needed to turn off his brain, but his neighbor’s shy smile had made it impossible to think about anything else. It was dangerous, Stiles saw the flashing warning signs and barreled forward anyways, convincing himself he was just being a good neighbor and welcoming a new friend. That’s all it was, there wasn’t anything wrong with trying to be nice, though he’d never been known for his kindness or sensitivity. It was totally normal to spend all night trying to make dessert in an effort to impress, er…welcome Scott. “You do like jello, right?”

Scott laughed at the hopeful look on the other man’s face, immediately trying to reassure him as he took the plate. “Of course I do, I love any food that wiggles.”

“Yeah you do!” Ugh, shut up, mouth. There was such a small window of opportunity to prove to Scott that he was cool and he was blowing it. “You guys repainting?”

“Yeah, I thought we’d give everything a face lift.” Scott said, putting the jello in the fridge. “I’ve got the boys doing the edges, they like helping out.”

“You need an extra set of hands?” What was he doing, Stiles never volunteered for manual labor but Scott’s smile brightened and Stiles’s heart flip flopped painfully in his chest.

“Are you sure dude? You don’t have to.”

Stiles was already rolling up his sleeves and definitely not looking at Scott’s bare arms in that unfairly tight black tank top. “No way, happy to help.” He waved at the two boys who waved dropping paintbrushes back. “Whoa, Scott. Taupe? What are you, an eighty year old?”

“Told ya, Dad.” Parker said as his brother nodded in enthusiastic agreement. “We should have gone with lime green!”

Scott snorted and swiped his paint brush down Parker’s nose, leaving the boy gasping in outraged shock. “Be happy I’m not painting everything taupe.”

The boy retaliated, shaking his paintbrush at his Dad and catching Stiles in the splatter. “Oh! Mr. Stiles, I’m so sorry!”

Stiles wiped the paint from his cheeks and raised an eyebrow. “I see how it is…wait. Scott? What’s that, are you okay?”

Scott frowned, suddenly concerned as he leaned close. “What’s what? What’s going on-!”

His neighbor grinned and slapped the paintbrush wetly across his face as the twins gaped before rolling in hysterics. “Sorry dude.”

“Oh that’s it!”

They managed to finish the living room hours later, stomachs sore from laughing and covered head to toe in drying, tacky paint. They all sat in the kitchen, picking paint flakes from their skin and stuffing their cheeks with jello. Scott couldn’t keep himself from running his hands through the other man’s hair, everything standing in clumpy taupe spikes.

“It’s a good look for you.” He teased, smiling more than he’d let himself in the past six months.

“That’s me, always ahead of the trend.” Stiles’s fingers twitched, wanting to peel the drying paint from the corner of Scott’s mouth. He was doomed.

It was strange how easy it was for this odd, frantic man to fit into their lives, breathing energy and happiness back into his family. Scott found himself looking forward to the excuses Stiles came up with to visit every day. Helping them unpack was plausible, but when Stiles showed up in the evenings after work, still in his police uniform from some fancy function just to “check all their closets for robbers,” he laughed and sat the man down at their kitchen table, feeding him dinosaur shaped chicken nuggets with the twins. He didn’t mean to let Stiles get so far, he should keep his walls up for the sake of his kids, but the twins adored Stiles the way cats loved those who were slightly afraid of them. He was good with Parker and Sam, irreverent but careful and Scott appreciated how his boys laughed. Stiles didn’t even get angry when the twins tore up his lawn looking for buried treasure, though Scott made sure they filled in every hole and apologize.

When Stiles showed up on Saturday night with an armful of Chinese food and his well-loved copy of Star Wars on DVD, Scott couldn’t say no. Once the man survived his heart attack after learning none of the McCalls had ever seen the movies (blasphemy, Scott!), he made himself at home and insisted on rectifying the situation. Long after the boys had been sent to bed, Scott sit sat with Stiles on the couch as tiny alien bear things (really, Scott?) whooped in green jungle scapes. His body fit snugly against the other man, irresistible gravity pulling them closer the later the night got until Scott finally closed the distance between them with a kiss that left both of them breathless. Stiles tried to protest, but his words were swallowed in Scott’s pretty mouth and he didn’t want to stop, making out like they were desperate teenagers. Scott still had no idea how Star Wars ended.

When Stiles finally went home in the dark, early hours of the morning, he almost couldn’t let him go. Scott kissed him goodbye on his porch, watching Stiles vault over the railing to show off and almost land on his face before swaggering next door. The world shifted sideways and Scott felt like he was drunk, staggered by the lingering warmth on his lips. Guilt swept in later, chasing away the high as he lay in bed, sleepless. How could he have kissed anyone else? Allison had only been gone for half a year and he barely knew Stiles. Just a few weeks and he was forgetting his vows. He’d promised her that she was the one, but Stiles was funny and wicked and pushed him even if he didn’t think he was ready, just to prove he really was. He made Scott feel alive again.

“Is it okay?” Scott asked the empty side of the bed. “I don’t want to let you go, Allie, I don’t want to move on but…is this okay?” He was still awake when the sun finally rose.

Next door, Stiles stared at himself in the mirror and hated everything he saw.

___

“Go pick the biggest pumpkin you can find.” Scott yelled after the boys who shoved each other and ran through the pumpkin patch.”

“I want a green one.”

“ _You’re_  a green one.”

“Am not! Your head looks like a pumpkin.”

“No you, slowpoke.”

Scott smiled as he watched them bicker, wrapping his hands around the warm spiced latte Stiles had brought for him. “Thanks for bringing us here, Halloween is the first holiday they’ve had since we’ve moved and I wanted to try and make it feel like home.”

“It’s not Halloween without picking your own pumpkin! And corn mazes and haunted hay rides and soaping all your neighbors’ windows on Mischief Night.”

Scott knocked his shoulder against his friend, playfully shoving him but found himself leaning back against him. “I’ll bet you were terrible, don’t give them ideas.”

“I still am terrible, Scotty.” Stiles said smugly. “Don’t give me that innocent puppy face, I’ll put money on the fact you were awful growing up.”

“Hey!” He feigned outrage, smile breaking through as he nuzzled himself against Stiles’s shoulder. “I was always the nice one, I never wanted to do things that made people upset. Besides, they never suspected me of anything.”

“I knew it!” Stiles crowed, bundling the other man into his arms. He manhandled Scott, pressing his chest against his friend’s back and sliding cold hands into the pockets of Scott’s hoodie. His breath misted in the cold October hair as he pressed his lips to Scott’s neck until the dark skin flushed. “You’re just as bad as I am.”

“Worse.” Scott agreed, wearing the title with pride. “I’m just sorry they’re not going to be able to go out this Halloween.”

“What?” He squawked, sounding just as affronted as he had about Star Wars. “Free candy is sacred, Scott.”

“I know, I wish I could but I’m stuck working an extra shift at the animal clinic and there’s no way out. I’ve tried. New guy gets all the crappy hours and they need someone there since a lot of animals get hurt this time of year.”

“That’s sick and so unfair.” Stiles kissed his nape. “Maybe I could take them?”

“You’d do that? Dude, you don’t have to, I don’t want to put you out.”

Stiles laughed and pinched Scott’s stomach through his pocket. “I don’t mind, a kid’s gotta enjoy Halloween. I promise I won’t even let them TP anyone’s house.”

“I’m not sure I believe that but, okay. If you’re sure? They can be a handful, they definitely get that from me. Allison used to say…” He stopped, guilt and grief knotting his tongue.

Stiles tightened his arms, refusing to let go even as Scott tried to pull away. “You miss her.”

“Every second of every day.” Scott sighed and surrendered back into Stiles’s arms. “They say it gets better with time, but all it does is hurt. Most days I don’t even know-, sometimes I feel like I can barely get out of bed, but I have to for them. They need a father and you…” Scott twisted until he could catch Stiles’s mouth, kiss slow and careful to test it out in public for everyone to see. “You’re incredible. I feel, I dunno, more like myself than I have since I lost her.”

“Scott…” Stiles tried to say something but kissing was so much better and he was sorry, so sorry. “I-I need to tell you-“

“Tell me later.” Scott said abruptly, trying to shake off the shadows that crowded around him and wiggled himself free from his friend’s arms. “C’mon, you nerd. “ He tossed his empty cup in a nearby garbage can and held up both arms to cheer his ‘three point’ throw. “The kids are getting too far ahead, they’re gonna get stolen by some kind of pumpkin themed super villain.”

“You know, there actually is one of those, his name’s Jack-O-Lantern and he’s pretty scar-, Scott? Damnit!” Stiles pouted for all of four seconds at his brilliant comic book knowledge being so unfairly unappreciated before he took off after Scott as he raced through the pumpkin patch. He wasn’t made for running, he was made for leaning dismissively against things and being sarcastic. Curse McCall and his ungodly athletic body that he did all kinds of terrible things to in the back of his mind. And the front of his mind. And with both hands alone in the shower. He tripped over twisted pumpkin vines while that asshole laughed and ran on ahead, taunting him.

The cold air burned in Scott’s chest as he swept by his kids, bonking both of them in the back of the head so they’d join in the chase. Maybe he should have known better, but for a moment everything just felt right with the world and they were laughing and playing like they used to. 

He coughed, lungs constricting and finally had to stop, wheezing for air. The twins ran into the back of them and all three went tumbling but only Scott didn’t get back up.

“Dad?”

Scott waved his hand, coughing harder as he struggled to breathe. He hadn’t had an asthma attack in years, but he hadn’t counted on it being cold enough to trigger. He gasped, feeling like he was drowning.  _Shit shit shit!_  He had an emergency inhaler back in the car, but he didn’t think he’d be able to make it back across the pumpkin patch.

“Mr. Stiles, is he okay?” Sam looked close to tears and Parker clung to his brother’s arm, hovering anxiously and unsure of how to help.

“He’s going to be fine, just give your Dad some space.” Stiles was kneeling beside the other man in a matter of seconds, hand on Scott’s back. “Calm down, Scott. Try to breathe slowly. Do you have an emergency inhaler with you.”

Scott nodded, gesturing vaguely back towards the car before doubling over. He coughed until his throat felt raw, head spinning as blackness nibbled at the edges of his vision.

“Parker.” Stiles fought to keep his voice calm though inside he was panicking. “Do you know where your Dad keeps the inhaler?”

The boy nodded, not letting go of his brother.

“I need you to run and get it as fast as you can. Do you think you can do that for me?”

Both boys looked up at Stiles, dark worried eyes so much like their father before Parker nodded again and sprinted towards the parking lot.

“Sam, I’m going to call for an ambulance. I want you to go talk to the lady at the counter up there where we buy the pumpkins and let her know that we need to flag down the ambulance when it gets here.”

“O-okay, Mr. Stiles.” The other boy tripped over his feet, barely catching himself before running back towards the barn.

“Keep breathing Scott, you’re doing fine. Everything’s going to be okay.”

Scott’s hands twisted in the front of his friend’s hoodie, head bowed and body wracked with hollow coughing.  _I’m sorry!_   He wanted to apologize for making everyone worry but he couldn’t get breath enough to form the words.  Parker slammed into Stiles’s side, shoving the inhaler into his hands. Twisting off the cap and giving it a quick shake, he handed it to Scott who took the deepest breath he could manage, coughing out most of the mist but trying again until he could feel his aching lungs start to ease.

“Dad!” His son cried and threw himself into his father’s arms as Scott panted shallowly, holding him close and leaning them both into Stiles.

“Thank you.”

Stiles felt like someone had reached into his own chest and pulled out his heart, wrapping his arms around both of them. Scott was going to be okay, he was still breathing and help was coming, he was finally allowed to have a meltdown of his own. “Don’t scare me like that, you jerk.” Stiles whispered fiercely. Scott managed to smile and Stiles didn’t know whether he wanted to kiss him or punch him in the mouth. “You can’t do that, Scott. You can’t. I love you.”

Sirens wailed in the distance and Stiles held on until the paramedics arrived.

**Author's Note:**

> You can read Rune/TruebornAlpha [Here](http://fightingforthepack.tumblr.com/) and find her on tumblr at [ Runicscribbles](runicscribbles.tumblr.com)


End file.
